~Star Light, Star Bright~

Chapter Three: Setting the Stage

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"They were stars on this stage, each playing to an audience of two."
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and the Damned

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"So where are we going Auntie?"

"We're heading for the City Library. That way we can use a computer with out leading S7 straight to us." Cody nodded slowly, eyes brightening.

"Oh, okay. That's smart. But what exactly are we going to be doing on the computer?" Macy gave him a feral grin that he couldn't help but return.

"We're going to make it where they'll come to us."

"Huh? How would that-"

"Just wait and see, brat. Just wait and see."

Silence.

"So...Auntie..."

"Yes midget?"

"Are you going to let me walk now?"

Around them on the crowded city concrete people paused and stared, some giggling, others just shaking their heads and moving on. Macy ignored them, but Cody couldn't help but wave and smile gleefully from where Macy had tossed him over her shoulder.

Macy rolled her eyes, but plopped him down firmly on the ground. "Satisfied now, squirt?" She watched as Cody made a show of brushing of the seat of his pants.

"Quite. Now, onward, for glory and honor!" With a happy yell, Cody darted off into the crowd of bemused civilians, cackling madly all the way. Macy growled and took off after him.

"Blast it! This is why I didn't want you walking on your own! You don't even know where the library is! Dammit kid, GET BACK HERE!"

It was one exhausted babysitter and one exhilarated little boy that arrived at the City Library an hour later. Macy gave the squirming boy her signature stink eye.

"Don't you EVER run off like that again. Your lucky you didn't get run over like the little squishy that you are." Cody just put his hands on his hips and stuck his tongue at her from underneath her arm.

"That's what you get for leaving me at the apartment alone."

Macy felt a vein in her forehead twitch.

"Why I oughta-"

"Excuse me." Macy and Cody turned from each other simultaneously, and stared at the woman in front of them.
She was tall, only an inch shorter than Macy, with dark brown hair pulled back into a severe bun. Her young face held an equally severe look. The tight business suit only added to the woman's serious, no-nonsense vibe, and both babysitter and kid gulped together.

"If you two wish to stay in here, then you might consider NOT yelling. This is a library after all." The woman looked down her nose at Cody, then glanced back to Macy. "I am the head librarian here. And quite frankly, I now everyone who comes in here. Since you two are new, I assume you wish to get some library cards?"

"Well, we would like to use a computer with internet access, please. We're not staying in town for very long, so we have no intentions of getting cards." The woman raised a fine eyebrow at Macy.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible then. You can only use our computers if you have a library card ID. It is necessary to ensure everyone only uses their one hour allotted computer time." She paused and took in Macy's and Cody's disappointed faces. "But for today only, I suppose you may use my card. I don't use it for computer time anyway."
The duo before her looked up with shocked expressions, startled. Macy hesitantly took the card from the other woman's hand, and looked at her curiously.

"Thank you, but are you sure? You don't even know our names." The woman smiled, and the end result made the librarian stunning.

"Well, that's easily remedied, is it not? My name is Soren. And you?" Soren added the last part when Macy just stared at her blankly.

"Eh? Oh, right, I'm Macy, and this little munchkin is-"

"I'm Cody! Nice to meet you Miss Soren."

Soren smiled down at Cody and reached into her shirt pocket, pulling out an orange lollipop. This she handed to the overjoyed boy. "For you, little one." She straightened again, and she gave them both a warm smile. "On behalf of the city, I welcome you both to the Mission City Library."

"Well, she was really nice. At first I though she was going to yell at us." Murmured Cody, keeping his voice low. Macy nodded in agreement.

"She did scold us though. We should make sure to be more quiet from now on." She glanced around for the computers, frowning. "Do you see where the computers are brat?"

"Uh..." Cody stood on his tiptoes and pointed. "Over there, by those thick bookcases."

"Like there isn't a thousand thick bookcases in this friggin' room..." Macy muttered irritably, but she turned and stared in the broad area Cody had gestured at. It took her a moment, but she finally noticed the glow of screens, and her frown turned upside down. "Now that's more like it."

With a few swift strides, the odd duo crossed the crowded room and plopped down at an empty computer monitor. Cody pulled up a little chair from the kid tables and settled himself down, looking to Macy eagerly.

Unaware of his gaze, Macy took in the computer.

It was a new Mac PC, with a pulsing sign-in box on the otherwise blank screen, surrounded at all sides by walls similar to those one would find in an office only smaller. Macy checked the side of the monitor and was relieved to see it had the USB port. "Perfect." Clicking rapidly at the keyboard, she entered the ID number on Soren's card and was rewarded with a bright screen with the usual icons that were on a desktop, including Mozilla Firefox.

Now she pulled out a flash drive from her back pocket. Macy waved it teasingly at Cody. "This little baby shall help us get the attention of the bots, and naturally, Sector 7. Now what we're going to do is..." She leaned in close and be whispering her master plan into her the kid's eager ear.

Soren Rashel, Head Librarian of one Mission City Library, looked up to find a hand with a library card in her face. "Hmm? What are you-" She came to a stall when she realized she was looking at non other than Macy. All she could see of Cody was the top of his fluffy head: she grinned mentally. He couldn't even see over the desk. She turned her attention back to Macy. "I'm assuming that you two are all done?"

For some strange reason, her question sent Cody into a fit of giggles, while Macy snickered into her free hand. Soren decided right then and there that she really didn't want to know. She wasn't curious. Not at all.

"Um, pffft, yeah, we, haha, did what we came to do." That statement seemed to set the two off all over again. Soren raised an eyebrow, then decided yet again, that she didn't want to know. She took her card back, and fought off the urge to sigh.

"Very well. I hope you two have a nice day."

"She really is nice!"

"Yeah. I'm surprised she didn't call up the local ward to drag us to the loony bin when we started laughing for no apparent reason." The two cohorts grinned and chatted together as they walked toward the library doors. Macy steered Cody from running into people, and just before they reached the doors she turned to the young boy.

"Now, there's a cafe across the street. We'll be able to eat lunch and watch Sector 7 arrive all at the same time. Hopefully the bots will come to investigate as well. In the end though, this will get the bots to eventually come back to Mission City. Got that?" Cody nodded emphatically. "Good. Let's get going before the shit hits the fan."

"Ooooooh~, Auntie, you said a bad word!"

"...Shut up brat."

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End—Chapter Three: Setting the Stage

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Authors Note: Hey, look, I'm alive! :D

Sorry for the delay, Life decided to come and give me a kick to the face. :c The next chapter should be up within less than a week, hopefully. In the mean time, leave me some reviews please. I'd love to see your guesses as to what they did. Till next time!